Beauty by Surprise

He has made everything beautiful in its time.

-- Ecclesiastes 3:11

I was surprised to discover this picture among my photos -- an accidental snapshot.  See my sneaker at the bottom?  Amidst the plain dirt and spotty grass are scattered beautiful leaves of various colors.  Creative bursts that add beauty and interest to an otherwise ordinary path.  I never would have appreciated this winsome, natural perspective had the moment not been captured by accident.  

How often do we barrel through life, not recognizing the subtle beauty which lies about us?  

Lord, thank you for showing me a special perspective in an ordinary moment.  Give me eyes for the small delights which You place along my path.  

Subjective View

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,  neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord.

-- Isaiah 55:8

We were sailing on the bay when I noticed something strange afar off on the horizon.  From a distance, it looked like a big black blob sitting atop the water, with smokestacks protruding out from various places.  My husband grabbed the binoculars and gasped at what he saw. 

Atop a barge sat half of a submarine!  As it headed up the channel and loomed closer, we gazed upon it in fascination.  Clearly some sort of big project was in the works.

Later, I thought about that submarine – ugly and unrecognizable from afar, cut completely in half, yet an amazing project was in process. 

Life can be that way.  We can’t make out what is happening, and we feel cut to the quick.  Yet as time passes, and we seek the Master planner, things can become more clear.  We may realize that God has us in the middle of an amazing project.  Although we don’t fully know what is going on and we are cut in half, we seek God and trust that He is doing something big and beyond the scope of our imagination.

Lord, help me to believe that you are doing something good when all I can see is a black blob.  Please keep me in Your channel -- on my own, I will run aground.

Clear Reflection

 Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.

-- Exodus 34:29 (RSV)

            

Unbeknownst to Moses, the result of his spending time with God was that his face shone.  He was reflecting the glory of God.  

As we seek the Lord daily and spend prolonged time with Him, may others around us see that we too have been with God.

Lord, help us to spend ample time with You.  As a result, may our faces and actions directly reflect You.  

Dante vs. Dante

Midway upon the journey of life

I found myself within a forest dark,

For the straightforward pathway had been lost.

 So begins Canto I of Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy, written in Italian during the fourteenth century.  The above is a translation by famed poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published in 1867. 

Read below a 1980 translation of the same section, by Allen Mandelbaum:

When I had journeyed half of our life’s way,

I found myself within a shadowed forest,

For I had lost the path that does not stray.

Both are translated from the same original text and express a common condition of middle-aged life.  For me, the first provides exceptionally beautiful language and evokes deep inner stirrings.

In a similar way, experience Psalm 107:4, first from a 1610 English translation and then a 1970s version.

They wandered in a wilderness, in a place without water: they found not the way of a city for their habitation. 
(Douay Rheims Version 1610)

Some wandered in the trackless desert and could not find their way to a city to live in.

(Good News Translation 1970)

 What thinkest thou?

Lord, when I find myself lost in the forest of life, allow me to hear Your words in such a way that my heart is stirred.

Lead, Kindly Light

 Thou dost show me the path of life.

  --- Psalm 16:11

Lead, Kindly Light, amidst the encircling gloom.  Lead Thou me on.  The night is dark and I am far from home, lead Thou me on.  Keep thou my feet.  I do not ask to see the distant scene.  One step enough for me.

Lord, I'm walking in a dark place.  Today, please show me the next step and lead me towards Your kingdom.

Mist-ified

 For we walk by faith and not by sight.

-- 2 Corinthians 5:7 (DB)

At times in life we find ourselves in need of something specific- a job, a place of worship, a school decision, a friend, or perhaps even a spouse.  We desire clear direction, but the future lies shrouded in mist.  God knows the way through the mist.  Let us take His hand and seek Him first each day, even when we can't see through to the other side.  

Lord, as St. John Henry Newman said, "I do not ask to see the distant scene.  One step enough for me."  Help me to trust in You for the future. 

Stumped

 For He is like a refiner's fire.

--- Malachi 3:2 (RSV)

Remember the half-dead tree of which I spoke?  (See June 7^th – A Truncated Fall).  An arborist successfully removed it last month, leaving behind a large stump.  

Taking matters into our own hands, we lit a fire to the useless lumpy mass of dead pine.  It has been smoldering now for 24 hours, slowly eating away the dead wood.  

Sometimes we are stumped by hard times, but God will use them to refine us.  Fire can destroy in a bad way, but also can be helpful to get rid of dead wood.  Is there dead wood in my life that needs removal? 

Lord, allow me to submit to Your purifying fires in order to remove the dead wood in my life.